WAR      INFORMATION      SERIES 


No.  15 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  I aiHAjf''  I  •'•I Jl  11 ; 


March.    1918 


AA    000  625  241     5 


WHY  AMERICA  FIGHTS 
GERMANY 


(CANT 


ONMENT      EblTION)*QaC^ 


BY 


JOHN    S.  P.  TATLOCK 

Professor  at  Stanford  University 


tir'/'^'  Issued  by 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON,  PUBLIC  INFORMATION 
WASHIN^ON.  D.  C. 


EXECUTIVE  ORDER. 


I  hereby  create  a  Committee  on  Public 
Information,  to  be  composed  of  the  Secretary 
of  State,  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  and  a  civilian  who  shall  be 
charged  with  the  executive  direction  of  the 
committee. 

As  civilian  chairman  of  the  committee  I 
appoint  Mr.  George  Creel. 

The  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  are 
authorized  each  to  detail  an  officer  or  officers 
to  the  work  of  the  committee. 


WOODROW  WILSON. 


April  24,  1917. 


SRLF 
YRL 

otiz'jiiizjo 

WHY  AMERICA  FIGHTS  GERMANY 


America  is  a  peaceable  nation.     We  believe  in  the  principle  of 
"live  and  let  live."     We  respect  other  nations'  rights,  wish  them 

prosperity,  and  envy  them  nothing.     We  have 
abL^atLn^^*^^"    ^^^^  territory  and  undeveloped  resources,  enough 

to  occupy  our  minds  and  hands  for  generations 
without  meddling  with  other  peoi)le's  concerns.  We  believe  that 
the  peace  and  happiness  of  mankind  will  be  promoted  by  self- 
government  for  all,  by  allowing  the  population  of  each  civilized 
country  to  govern  itself.  Through  almost  our  whole  history  we 
have  stood  for  democracy  ami  peace.  We  have  protected  China 
from  robbery  and  war  on  the  part  of  more  greedy  nations,  and 
have  stood  the  strongest  friend  of  the  new  Chinese  republic.  In 
1896  we  stood  the  friend  of  Venezuela  in  her  controversy  with 
<jreat  Britain,  and  prevented  war.  For  years  we  have  even 
allowed  our  own  citizens  to  be  wronged  in  Mexico  rather  than 
make  war  on  our  neighbor  republic.  Consequently,  we  are 
now  trusted  as  the  big  brother  of  all  the  republics  in  the  New 
World.  When  we  departed  from  our  peaceful  policy  in  1898,  and 
made  war  on  Spain,  it  was  in  order  to  stop  intolerable  oppression 
at  our  very  door,  in  Cuba.  We  then  gave  and  have  guarded  the 
independence  of  Cuba,  and  only  took  the  Philippine  Islands  in 
order  to  save  them  from  falling  to  some  less  disinterested  nation, 
and  in  order  to  educate  their  people  for  independence  later. 
Thus  we  have  always  worked  for  peace,  and  for  the  justice  to  all 
which  is  the  only  sure  way  to  maintain  peace. 

Well,  then,  why  did  we  enter  the  Cireat  European  War?     Why 
was  it  our  affair?     If  we  love  peace,  why  do  we  make  war?     Did 

we    drift    in    without    knowing    what    we    were 
Then  why  do  we     ^j^^^^^^.^  ^j;^,   ^^.,,  „.^>^   j^  |,^,  ^„„„,  j-j,,,!  ^^f  "(hike"? 

^  *■  We  are  in  the  war  because  we  had  to  go  in  unless 

we  were  entirely  blind  to  our  own  honor  and  safety,  and  to  the 
future  happiness  of  the  whole  world. 

Germany  has  attacked  us.     What  finally  forced  us  into  the 
war  was  the  unlimited  submarine  warfare  started  by  Germany 
on    the    1st    of    Fel)ruary,   1917.     Before   this, 
Germany  makes     j-jjj^^y  American  ships  had  been  sunk  by  German 
war  on  us  submarines,  and  hundreds  of  American  lives  had 

been  lost  on  these  and  other  ships.     This  was  contrary  to  all 
humanity  and  even  all  law.     Merchant  ships  may  be  turned 

3 


4  WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY 

back  from  blockaded  ports,  but  cannot  legally  be  sunk  without 
mercy.  The  most  horrible  outrage  was  the  torpedoing  of  the 
unarmed  British  ship  Lusitania,  in  May,  1915,  when  1154  lives 
were  lost,  114  being  American.  In  May,  1916,  the  German  Gov- 
ernment had  agreed  that  this  sort  of  thing  should  not  go  on. 
Therefore  in  February,  1917,  the  German  Government  simply 
broke  its  word  and  defied  us.  It  was  announced  that  any  ships 
whatever,  American  or  of  any  other  nation,  found  anywhere  with- 
in enormous  areas  of  the  free  Atlantic  west  and  north  of  Europe 
and  in  the  Mediterranean,  would  be  sunk  without  warning  and 
without  mercy  to  their  crews  and  passengers.  Germany  was  as 
bad  as  her  word:  she  proceeded  to  sink  American  and  other  ships, 
regardless  of  the  fate  of  those  aboard ,  among  whom  many  Ameri- 
cans perished.  Every  such  act  of  Germany  was  an  act  of  war 
against  us.  If  we  put  up  with  such  savagery,  it  would  mean 
establishing  permanently  the  right  of  submarines  in  war-time  to 
sink  merchant  ships  and  drown  innocent  people.  It  would  mean 
that  mercy  and  humanity  are  to  have  no  control  over  the  acts  of 
nations. 

Suppose  your  neighbor  X  dislikes  your  neighbor  A.     Suppose 

he  announces  that  if  he  sees  you  on  the  steps  of  A's  house,  or 

even  walking  on  the  public  sidewalk  near  it,  he 

despised  ^^^^   ^^^^^   y^^'    ^^^   proves   his   seriousness   by 

shooting  you  through  the  arm  with  a  revolver. 
Will  you  go  home  and  say  indulgently,  that  *'it  is  no  affair  of 
yours,  that  you  are  a  lover  of  peace,  and  will  leave  them  to  settle 
their  own  quarrels"?  Or  will  you  send  for  the  police;  or  else,  if  you 
are  in  a  thinly  settled  region,  will  3^ou  not  yourself  restrain  and 
punish  the  outlaw  X?  Even  supposing  you  had  thought  earlier 
that  there  was  as  much  to  be  said  on  X's  side  of  the  quarrel  as  on 
A's,  would  not  X's  criminal  and  foolish  conduct  throw  you  over 
to  A's  side?  Because  we  believe  in  "live  and  let  live,"  we  do  not 
believe  in  die  and  let  die.  No  nation  of  vigorous  men  and 
women  could  put  up  with  such  intolerable  outrages.  We  fought 
the  War  of  1812  for  less,  we  fought  the  Spanish  War  of  1898  for 
much  less.  If  we  had  not  fought  Germany  after  her  false  and 
brutal  conduct,  we  should  have  been  despised  by  all  the  world, 
including  the  Germans. 

So  America  had  far  more  immediate  provocation  than  she 
needed  to  make  her  an  enemy  of  the  German  Government. 
,     ,     .  .  But  there  were  deeper  and  wider  reasons  yet. 

outraged  us*^^^  ^^^  ^''^^^  reason  enough  to  fight  a  man  if  he 
attacks  you,  but  if  you  have  long  known  that  he 
is  a  bad  and  dangerous  man,  you  have  still  more  reason  to  master 
him.  The  overwhelming  majority  of  Americans  had  been  against 
Germany  from  the  very  outbreak  of  the  war  in  August,  1914.  We 


WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY  5 

knew  that  Germany  and  Austria  desired  the  war,  and  forced  it  on 
their  unwilling  opponents,  the  Allies.  Our  sense  of  humanity, 
justice,  and  chivalry  was  horrified  by  the  German  invasion  of 
Belgium,  a  weak  and  innocent  nation  which  stood  in  the  road 
wliich  the  German  armies  wished  to  take  into  France.  We 
were  horrified  still  more  by  their  conduct  in  Belgium — by  their 
needless  destruction  of  precious  things,  by  their  vile  and  filthy 
treatment  of  the  Belgians,  by  their  roliberies,  by  their  number- 
less murders.  A  German  soldier  fell  off  his  bicycle  and  his  gun 
went  off;  he  declared  he  had  been  shot  at,  and  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  village  were  burned 'to  death  in  their  homes.  Feeble  old 
Belgian  priests  were  forced  to  walk  in  front  of  the  marching 
German  armies  as  screens,  so  that  if  the  Belgians  fired  they 
might  kill  the  priests  first.  Babies  were  stabbed  with  bayonets. 
Belgians  were  carried  off  into  Germany  and  forced  to  work  for 
the  German  armies.  There  is  a  picture  by  a  Dutch  artist  of  a 
poor  old  Belgian  making  a  shell;  the  dreadful  expression  in  his 
face  tells  us  he  is  thinking,  "Perhaps  this  will  kill  my  son." 
German  seamen  from  a  submarine  got  into  the  lifeboat  of  a 
ship  sunk  far  from  land,  emptied  the  fresh-water  casks,  filled 
them  with  salt-water,  and  even  threw  overboard  the  crew's  little 
packages,  done  up  in  bandanna  handkerchiefs,  of  little  personal 
belongings  which  the  poor  fellows  wanted  to  save.  The  crew  of 
another  ship  which  was  torpedoed  were  put  on  the  deck  of  the 
submarine,  which  then  dived  and  left  them  to  drown.  Whole 
books  have  been  written  about  these  horrors,  against  all  law 
and  humanity,  and  yet  half  of  them  have  not  been  recorded. 
The  more  decent  German  soldiers  have  confessed  and  deplored 
them,  some  have  even  gone  crazy,  even  killed  themselves,  it  is  said, 
rather  than  commit  them.  And  we  know  that  many  or  most  of 
them  were  not  the  acts  of  uncontrolled  brutes  who  chanced  to  be 
in  the  German  army;  they  were  ordered  in  cold  blood  by  the 
authorities.  That  is  the  difference  between  this  war  and  most 
wars.  Indignation  at  such  barbarities  brought  hundreds  of 
generous-hearted  young  Americans  to  fight  on  the  Allies'  side 
long  before  the  American  nation  entered  the  war. 

We  had  also  formed  a  deep  distrust  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment's  honor  and   word.     How   could   we   help   it,   when   the 
Chancellor  of   the    Empire   brushed   aside    the 

All  trust  solemn  treaty  which  was  to  have  safeguarded 

unaerminea  n  i    •  i       n   j    i.  •  j 

Belgumi,  and  called  it  m  so  many  words  a  mere 

"scrap  of  paper"?     From  month  to  month  we  learned  more  and 

more  of  the  treachery  of  the  German  Government.    Through  its 

agents,  even  through  the  official  diplomats  in  its  embassy  at 

Washington,  it  committed  acts  of  intrigue  and  treachery  against 

us  within  our  own  country,  while  it  was  professing  to   be  our 


6  WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY 

friend.  Of  such  cases  twenty-one  were  listed  by  our  House  of 
Representatives  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  at  the  time  I  when 
we  declared  war.  Among  these  acts  were  placing  bombs  on 
ships  sailing  from  American  ports;  producing  strikes  and  blowing 
up  factories  in  the  United  States;  plotting  in  this  neutral  country 
to  blow  up  bridges,  tunnels,  and  factories  in  Canada;  and  stirring 
up  anti-American  feeling  and  generally  promoting  disorder  in  the 
unhappy  country  of  Mexico.  Thus  she  attacked  our  honor  and 
well-being  while  at  peace  with  us.  The  net  of  German  intrigue 
has  encompassed  the  world.  Germany's  diplomats  have  been 
at  their  treacherous  work  in  the  Argentine  republic.  Worst  of 
all,  we  know  now— she  herself  admitted  when  found  out — that 
she  tried  to  induce  Mexico  and  Japan  to  make  war  on  us.  She 
kindly  gave  Mexico  permission  to  annex  Texas,  New  Mexico, 
and  Arizona!  And  she  thought  the  honorable  Japanese  as  con- 
temptible as  herself,  and  that  they  might  be  led  to  desert  their 
Allies  in  the  present  war,  and  help  Germany  by  attacking  us, 
their  friends.  How  is  the  world  to  live  with  a  nation  which 
must  be  utterly  distrusted?  The  most  precious  thing  in  the 
world,  civilization,  is  built  on  humaneness  and  trust.  Is  it  no 
concern  of  ours  that  a  powerful  and  aggressive  nation  marches 
over  the  earth  crushing  them  to  fragments  as  it  goes? 

In  these  three  or  four  years  of  war  the  American  people  have 
learned  a  great  deal  about  the  German  Government  and  its 
principles.     It  is  this,  far  more  than  any  par- 
on^precept  ticular  event,    which   has   made   the   American 

people  determined  to  see  this  war  through  till  the 
German  Government  is  crushed  or  reformed.  Suppose  you  learned 
that  your  neighbor  X,  whom  we  spoke  of,  was  in  the  habit  of 
boasting  to  his  intimates  that  he  had  no  principles  except  to  get 
ahead  himself,  that  others  have  no  rights,  and  that  he  should 
never  hesitate  to  kill  anyone  who  interfered  with  him;  should 
you  not  feel  that  the  place  for  him  was  the  penitentiary  or  the 
insane  asylum?  We  have  learned  that  the  Germans'  conduct  all 
through  the  war  is  the  direct  consequence  of  their  organization 
and  their  principles.  From  all  kinds  of  books  and  speeches,  by 
their  Emperor,  their  public  men,  their  thinkers,  we  have  found 
that  they  will  stop  at  nothing,  absolutely  at  nothing,  which 
stands  in  the  way  of  exalting  Germany.  They  will  commit 
needless  crimes  and  cruelties,  murdering  children,  destroying 
ancient  art,  because  they  believe  this  will  break  the  spirit  of 
their  enemies  and  make  them  submit  through  fear.  It  does 
not  work  that  way;  but  this  proves  the  German  authori- 
ties not  to  be  less  criminal,  simply  more  foolish.  Their 
Kaiser  himself  said  to  his  troops  when  they  set  out  for  China 
in  1900: 


WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY  7 

"No  mercy  will  be  shown!  No  prisoners  will  be  taken! 
As  the  Huns,  under  King  Attila,  made  a  name  for  them- 
selves, which  is  still  mighty  in  traditions  and  legends  today, 
may  the  name  of  German  be  so  fixed  in  China  by  your  deeds, 
that  no  Chinese  shall  ever  again  dare  even  to  look  at  a 
German  askance.  .  .  .  Open  the  way  for  Kultur  once 
for  all." 

The  rest  of  the  world  for  fifteen  hundred  years  has  regarded  the 
Huns  with  horror  as  pitiless  savages,  but  the  German  Kaiser 
admires  them!  A  more  humane  German  who  denounced  the 
outrages  of  the  German  soldiers  in  China  was  sentenced  to  prison 
for  three  months.  The  greatest  of  German  statesmen,  Bis- 
marck, stated  this  in  1871  as  the  proper  treatment  of  the  people 
(not  the  army)  in  an  enemy  country: 

"We  shall  shoot,  hang,  and  burn.  After  that  has  hap- 
pened a  few  times,  the  inhabitants  will  finally  come  to  their 
senses." 

In  the  present  war  this  has  been  done  not  a  few  but  innumerable 
times;  their  enemies  have  not  given  way  only  because  other 
peoples  are  not  the  base  cowards  which  the  Germans  think  they 
are.     A  German  preacher  has  said  this  in  a  public  address: 

"Whoever  cannot  prevail  upon  himself  to  approve  from 
the  bottom  of  his  heart  the  sinking  of  the  Liisitania,  who- 
ever cannot  conquer  his  sense  of  the  gigantic  cruelty  to 
unnumbered  perfectly  innocent  victims,  .  .  .  and 
give  himself  up  to  honest  delight  at  this  victorious  exploit 
of  German  defensive  power — him  we  judge  to  be  no  true 
German." 

If  this  is  the  way  to  be  a  "true  German,"  who  would  wish  to  be 
one?  From  the  Kaiser  down,  the  Germans  talk  much  of  God 
being  with  them;  but  it  is  not  the  God  of  the  New  Testament, 
nor  the  God  of  the  Hebrew  prophets. 

What  makes  all  this  most  dangerous  to  the  world  is  that  the 
Germans  like  and  admire  war.  They  are  always  ready  to  let 
j^  loose  such  horrors.  "War  is  the  noblest  and 
of^war^°^"^^^^  holiest  expression  of  human  activity."  So  says 
an  influential  paper  which  circulates  among 
young  boys  and  others.  "The  ideal  of  perpetual  peace  is  not  only 
impossible  but  immoral  as  well,"  says  one  of  the  greatest  German 
writers  of  history.  One  of  the  most  influential  of  German  phi- 
losophers writes: 

"Ye  shall  love  peace  as  a  means  to  new  wars,  and  the 
short  peace  better  than  the  long." 

Another  eminent  philosopher  says: 


8  WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY 

"A  State  organized  only  for  peace  is  really  no  State,  A 
State  is  really  manifest  only  in  its  preparation  for  war." 

"The  lessons  of  history  thus  confirm  the  view  that  wars 
which  have  been  deliberately  provoked  by  far-seeing  states- 
men have  had  the  happiest  results." 

This  is  from  a  recent  and  very  influential  book  by  a  German 
general.  So  Germany  not  only  makes  war  in  the  most  savage 
and  merciless  way.  She  thinks  war  in  itself  a  good  thing,  and 
desires  it. 

Many  things  have  become  clearer  to  the  world  during  the 
course  of  the  war.  From  the  first  the  cause  of  human  rights  and 
freedom  was  seen  to  be  the  cause  of  the  peoples 
All-Democracy  allied  against  Germany.  But  especially  since 
Despotism  ^^^^  Russian  Revolution  of  March,  1917,  one  of 

the  greatest  facts  of  the  war  is  that  all-Democ- 
racy is  now  waging  a  supreme  struggle  against  all-Despotism. 
On  the  Allied  side  are  the  republic  of  France,  the  vast  future  re- 
public of  Russia,  the  democracies  of  Great  Britain  and  Italy 
(kingdoms  hardly  more  than  in  name) ,  not  to  mention  the  other 
democracies  of  the  world  which  are  giving  their  blood  or  at  least 
their  encouragement.  On  the  German  side  are  the  autocracies 
(with  the  sham  of  democracy) — the  German,  the  Austrian,  and 
the  Turkish  Empires.  On  which  side  does  America  belong? 
Can  our  ancient  republic,  which  taught  popular  rule  to  the 
world,  to  France,  England  and  Russia,  stand  by  unmoved  when 
all  that  we  hold  sacred  is  in  danger?  We  in  this  country  are  so  used 
to  the  word  democracy  that  we  do  not  always  realize  what  it 
means.  It  means  opportunity  to  every  man  for  success.  It 
means  that  every  man  with  the  necessary  ability  and  character 
can  rise  from  poverty  to  wealth  and  power,  and  that  government 
will  put  no  needless  obstacle  in  his  way,  but  will  protect  and  aid 
him.  Everyone  knows  that  this  has  happened  countless  times  in 
America.  But  if  democracy  is  conquered  in  this  war,  the 
liberty  of  the  individual  man  must  be  diminished  that  the 
nation  as  a  whole  may  be  defended  from  foreign  autocracy. 
This  is  not  a  dream:  it  is  a  grim  fact.  If  democracy  is  conquered 
in  this  war,  all  free  peoples  must  either  submit  to  Germany's 
domination,  or  else  give  up  a  part  of  their  democracy  in  order 
to  resist  her. 

The  tide  of  man's  history  is  all  against  autocracy.  The  great 
future  is  with  us.  But  German  autocracy  is  building  dikes 
against  the  flood,  and  may  hold  it  off  for  centu- 
Germany  would  j.|gg^  ]^y  i^ecping  its  subjects  comfortable,  by  using 
^Qj.l(j  the  utmost  help  of  science  and  efficient  manage- 

ment, and  by  achieving  a  great  world  empire 
in  the  center  of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere.     At  this  minute   Ger- 


WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY  9 

many  virtually  controls  Austria-Hungary,  the  Balkan  States, 
and  the  Turkish  Empire,  which  hate  her  but  must  do  her  will. 
That  is  why  she  is  so  eager  for  peace  now.  She  still  controls 
the  route  of  the  Bagdad  railway,  which  will  give  far  the  quickest 
route  to  Asia  and  Africa.  The  spider  that  sits  at  Berlin  can  dart 
along  the  lines  that  lead  over  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  and 
dominate  the  Atlantic,  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans.  When  the 
railroads  are  completed,  Germany  would  have  a  vast  com- 
mercial advantage  in  peace,  and  vast  wealth  and  military  and 
naval  advantage  in  war.  If  it  takes  years  for  the  democracies 
of  the  world  to  conquer  her  now,  how  will  it  be  then? 

Someone  may  think  all  of  this  none  of  our  business.  Someone 
may  dislike  German  ideas,  but  still  say,  "Here  we  are  away  off 
across  the  Atlantic,  in  no  danger  from  Germany. 
SAmSiS^""^"  She  will  never  dare  attack  us,  she  may  turn 
the  Old  World  upside-down,  but  she  will  let  the 
New  World  alone."  The  answer  to  this  is:  We  must  fight  Ger- 
many in  Europe  that  we  may  not  have  to  fight  her  in  America. 
We  are  and  have  been  for  a  long  time  in  danger  from  Germany. 
The  Kaiser  only  two  or  three  years  ago  stated  it  to  our  ambassa- 
dor with  the  insulting  frankness  of  a  bully.  "He  stood  very  close 
to  me  and  talked  very  earnestly,"  says  Mr.  Gerard.  "He 
showed,  however,  great  bitterness  against  the  United  States  and 
repeatedly  said,  'America  had  better  look  out  after  this  war';  and 
*I  shall  stand  no  nonsense  from  America  after  the  war.'  "  Ger- 
many desires  colonies  in  South  America,  in  Brazil,  which  our 
Monroe  Doctrine  would  oblige  us  to  defend.  If  she  once  got  a 
foothold  in  America,  there  would  be  no  end  to  her  encroaching. 
She  desires  power  in  the  Pacific,  and  has  expected  trouble  with  us 
there — which  all  but  came  during  our  Spanish  War.  She  be- 
heves  she  can  beat  us,  and  would  not  hesitate  to  attack  us. 
Plans  have  all  been  formed,  and  printed,  by  men  of  military 
rank,  for  an  invasion  of  America.  Every  well-informed  man 
knows  that  a  war  between  Germany  and  the  United  States  alone 
not  only  has  long  been  possible,  but  might  easily  be  fatal  to  us. 
We  are  a  strong  nation,  but  so  are  the  Germans.  They  have 
two-thirds  our  population,  and  both  in  peace  and  war-time 
have  a  far  larger  and  stronger  army,  and  a  larger  and  stronger 
fleet.  These  are  cold  facts.  We  must  light  Germany  in  Europe 
with  help,  that  we  may  not  have  to  fight  her  in  America  without 
help. 

Now  let  us  picture  w-hat  a  sudden  invasion  of  the  United 
States  by  these  Germans  would  mean;  sudden,  because  their 
settled  way  is  always  to  attack  suddenly.  First  they  set 
themselves  to  capture  New  York  City.  While  their  fleet  block- 
ades the  harbor  and  shells  the  city  and  the  forts  from  far  at  sea, 


10  WHY    AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY 

their  troops  land  somewhere  near  and  advance  toward  the  city  in 
order  to  cut  its  rail  communications,  starve  it  into  surrender,  and 
then  plunder  it.  One  body  of  from  50,000  to 
laiShpN^^^  100,000  men  lands,  let  us  suppose,  at  Barnegat 
Jersey  Bay,  N.  J.,  and  advances  without  meeting  resis- 

tance, for  the  brave  but  small  American  army  is 
scattered  elsewhere.  They  pass  through  Lakewood,  a  station  on 
the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey.  They  first  demand  wine  for 
the  officers  and  beer  for  the  men.  Angered  to  find  that  an 
American  town  does  not  contain  large  quantities  of  either,  they 
pillage  and  burn  the  post-office  and  most  of  the  hotels  and  stores. 
Then  they  demand  $1,000,000  from  the  residents.  One  feeble 
old  woman  tries  to  conceal  twenty  dollars  which  she  has  been 
hoarding  in  her  desk  drawer;  she  is  taken  out  and  hanged  (to 
save  a  cartridge).  Some  of  the  teachers  in  two  district  schools 
meet  a  fate  which  makes  them  envy  her.  The  Catholic  priest 
and  Methodist  minister  are  thrown  into  a  pig-sty,  while  the 
German  soldiers  look  on  and  laugh.  Some  of  the  officers  quarter 
themselves  in  a  handsome  house  on  the  edge  of  the  town,  insult 
the  ladies  of  the  family,  and  destroy  and  defile  the  contents  of 
the  house.  By  this  time  some  of  the  soldiers  have  managed  to 
get  drunk;  one  of  them  discharges  his  gun  accidentally,  the  cry 
goes  up  that  the  residents  are  firing  on  the  troops,  and  then  hell 
breaks  loose.  Robbery,  murder  and  outrage  run  riot.  Fifty 
leading  citizens  are  lined  up  against  the  First  National  Bank 
building,  and  shot.  Most  of  the  town  and  the  beautiful  pine- 
woods  are  burned,  and  then  the  troops  move  on  to  treat  New 
Brunswick  in  the  same  way — if  they  get  there. 

This  is  not  just  a  snappy  story.  It  is  not  fancy.  The  gen- 
eral plan  of  campaign  against  America  has  been  announced 
repeatedly  by  German  military  men.  And 
haSen  °^''^''  ®^^^  horrible  detail  is  just  what  the  German 
troops  have  done  in  Belgium  and  France.  The 
same  thing  would  happen  at  Plymouth  or  Gloucester  in  the  ad- 
vance on  Boston;  might  happen  at  Michigan  City,  Indiana,  in  the 
advance  on  Chicago,  at  Council  Bluffs  on  the  way  to  Omaha.  It 
is  hard  for  an  American  to  realize  the  danger.  It  has  never  hap- 
pened before,  because  there  has  never  before  been  such  a  menace 
as  the  German  Empire  of  our  day.  You  do  not  expect  your 
house  to  burn  down,  but  you  insure  it,  especially  if  there  have 
been  many  incendiary  fires  in  your  town.  There  has  been  far 
more  danger  of  an  invasion  of  America  by  Germany  than  of 
your  house  burning  down;  our  insurance  against  this  invasion  is 
doing  our  level  best  to  crush  the  present  German  Government 
now  while  the  rest  of  the  world  too  is  determined  to  crush  it. 

Can  we  crush  it?  Yes,  if  we  work  and  fight,  all  of  us,  soldiers 
and  civilians,  with  heart  and  soul  and  both  hands.     The  German 


WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY  11 

nation  is  not  greater  than  the  rest  of  the  world,  though  just  now 
it  thinks  it  is.     During   the   first  part  of  the   war  they  wore 

superior  in  a  inihtary  way,  because  the  whole 
beat^Germ^y  °     nation  for  fifty  years  and  more  had  been  organized 

first  and  foremost  for  war.  Other  nations  did 
not  want  war,  and  had  organized  for  peace.  But  does  any  red- 
blooded  American  doubt  that  if  ever  since  the  Rebellion  we  had 
thought  and  dreamed  and  worked  for  War,  War,  War,  our 
armies  would  be  better  than  the  German?  Six  modern  inventions 
have  been  conspicuous  in  the  present  war:  the  airplane,  the  subma- 
rine, the  automobile,  the  wireless  telegraph,  the  "tanks,"  the  Zep- 
pelin balloon .  Of  these  the  first  two  are  American  inventions;  the 
automobile  mainly  French  (partly  German);  the  wireless  tele- 
graph is  Italian;  the  "tanks"  English.  The  only  one  of  the  six 
which  has  conspicuously  failed  is  the  Zepj)elin;  it  is  a  German  in- 
vention. The  Germans  also  introduced  two  things  which  anyone 
could  have  invented  if  he  had  been  hard-hearted  enough;  liquid 
fire,  and  poison  gas.  We  are  matching  them  at  these  now.  The 
Germans  are  far  from  being  beaten  j^et;  they  are  still  very 
dangerous,  and  will  give  us  many  terrible  surprises  and  blows. 
They  think  now  they  are  the  victors.  We  are  at  a  critical  point 
of  the  war.  But  they  will  be  beaten  if  the  boys  from  Kansas  and 
Oregon  and  Georgia  and  Ohio  and  New  York  and  jMassa- 
chusetts,  clean-cut  and  clean-lived  and  intelligent,  keep  at  it. 

And  they  will  keep  at  it.     Nothing  has  given  Americans  such 
a  hearty  sense  of  the  intelligence  and  public  spirit  of  our  free 

citizens  as  the  way  they  have  responded  to  such 
Response  of  our  ^^  unusual  measure  as  conscription  and  the 
^°""^  draft.    We  have  all  realized  that  our  nation  can- 

not live  on  this  earth  if  it  can  be  insulted  and  wronged  with  im- 
punity; that  its  liberty  and  rights  for  the  future  must  be  ensured; 
that  mercy  and  truth,  justice  and  peace,  must  be  secured  through- 
out the  earth  if  civilization  is  to  survive  on  it;  that,  as  our  great 
President  says,  the  World  must  be  made  Safe  for  Democi-acy.  We 
have  all  agreed  with  a  prominent  American  apostle  of  peace  that 
"the  way  out  is  forward."  Our  young  men  at  the  nation's 
call  are  postponing  their  plans  for  their  lifework,  and  are  risking 
their  lives.  They  see  that  an  entin^ly  impartial  draft  is  the 
fairest  way  of  raising  men  to  defend  what  we  most  value  and  love 
on  earth;  "that  no  man  has  a  right  to  the  blessings  of  this  country, 
who  will  not  rise  to  defend  them  when  he  is  called.  America's 
young  manhood  can  be  relied  on  for  courage  and  jiatriotism. 
And  many  of  these  are  of  German  blood.  The  wickedness 
and  treachery  which  have  made  the  free  nations 
To  reform  the  resolved  to  down  the  (Jermans  are  not  inborn 
deXoTthem*  traits  of  all  their  people.  German-Americans 
are  among  the  best  citizens  we  have,  as  many  of 


12  WHY    AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY 

them  have  shown  during  this  war.  We  shall  feel  brotheriy  toward 
the  German  nation  again  if  two  things  can  be  changed,  their  Gov- 
ernment and  their  spirit. 

The  chief  trouble  with  the  Germans  is  their  Government.  It 
has  the  appearance  of  allowing  power  to  the  people,  but  this  is 

only  in  appearance.  As  a  fact,  the  Emperor 
Germany's  Yias  nearly  absolute  power.     The  ministers,  or 

Government  cabinet,  are  responsible  only  to  him,  do  his  will, 

and  remain  in  office  during  his  pleasure.  The 
Reichstag,  or  Congress,  is  little  more  than  a  debating  society;  it 
talks  but  does  not  do  things.  If  it  refuses  to  vote  taxes,  the  taxes 
of  the  preceding  years  are  continued.  Even  the  power  to  elect 
the  members  of  this  weak  Reichstag  is  not  equally  in  the  hands  of 
all  citizens.  The  great  cities,  the  home  of  the  progressive  working 
class,  have  the  same  representation  as  was  given  them  in  1871, 
and  therefore  have  far  less  voting-power  relatively  than 
country  districts,  which  are  controlled  by  the  Junkers,  the 
aristocrats  and  great  land-owners.  Prussia,  which  dominates 
Germany,  is  much  less  democratic  than  the  Empire;  the 
laboring  class  is  almost  powerless.  All  this  means  that  a  small 
group  of  selfish  men  can  force  the  nation  into  war,  as  it  did  this 
time;  and  what  is  much  worse,  by  feverish  preparation  and  by 
poisoning  the  nation's  mind  can  keep  it  readj^  and  eager  for 
war.  Laboring  people  seldom  want  war,  except  for  self-defense. 
There  has  always  been  a  party  in  Germany  that  demanded 
more  popular  freedom.  During  the  strain  of  the  war  this 
party  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  so  that  the  rulers  are 
desperately  afraid  of  it.  By  defeating  the  Government  of 
Germany  we  shall  help  the  real  German  people  to  get  their 
rights.  When  all  peoples  have  their  rights,  the  World  will  be 
Safe  for  Democracy. 

The  other  danger  from  Germany  lies  in  the  belief  of  the 
Germans  that  they  are  a  superior  people  with  a  civilization 
that  must  be  forced  on  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Germany's   .  This  arrogance  results  from  the  position  of  the 

arrogance  military  nobility  as  a  superior  caste,  and  from 

Germany's  youth  and  lack  of  political  sense  as  a  nation. 
Germany  is  the  youngest  of  the  great  nations,  only  one-third 
as  old  as  the  United  States.  Their  governing  class  believes 
that  war  is  the  noblest  profession  for  an  aristocrat  to  follow, 
that  bayonets  and  not  ballots  should  be  put  in  the  hands  of 
the  populace,  and  that  their  army  is  unconquerable.  There  is 
just  one  way  to  make  such  a  people  into  a  good  member  of  the 
family  of  nations.  We  have  joined  in  this  task  and  we  shall 
see  it  through. 


WHY     AMERICA     FIGHTS     GERMANY  13 

Once  again,  Why  is  America  fighting  Germany? 

(1)  The  German  Government  has  drowned  our  citizens,  sunk 

our  ships,  dcstro.y(;d  our  propert}^,  insulted  our 
to^fight  Germany    ^^S)    contrary  to    all    law  and  all   humanity. 
Every  such  act  was  an  act  of  war  against  us. 

(2)  By  its  cruel  and  treacherous  treatment  of  Belgium,  and  by 
its  manner  of  waging  war,  it  has  excited  the  horror  of  all  decent 
people.     Mercy  and  justice  through  all  the  world  are  at  stake. 

(3)  Its  constant  love  and  desire  for  war  proves  it  tlie  greatest 
menace  on  earth  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  free  peoples. 

(4)  On  our  side  are  the  democracies  of  the  world,  great  and 
small;  on  the  German  side  are  the  autocracies  of  the  world, 
warring  against  the  principles  on  which  our  democracy  and  all 
others  are  founded. 

(5)  Germany  plans  to  dominate  the  Old  World  from  its  center, 
and  to-day  has  largely  accomplished  the  plan.  In  a  few  years 
it  will  be  too  late  to  stop  her. 

(6)  Germany's  ambitions  for  expansion  in  the  New  World  have 
shown  that  we  should  have  to  fight  Germany  later,  if  not  now; 
and  without  help,  instead  of  with  the  help  of  all  other  great  free 
peoples. 

To  fight  Germany  now  is  the  only  way  to  make  the  World 
Safe  for  Democracy;  to  make  sure  that  little  American  babies, 
our  little  brothers  and  sons,  shall  not  have  to  do  it,  but  shall 
grow  up  free  from  the  nightmare  of  militarism,  suspicion  and 
fear.  America  is  a  peaceable  nation;  if  we  wish  to  remain  so, 
we  must  win  this  war.  After  this,  will  anyone  ask,  Why 
America  fights  German}^? 


COMMITTEE  ON   PUBLIC   INFORMATION 

Washington,  D.  C. 

(^Established  by  Order  of  the  President,  April  14,  1917) 


I.     RED,  WHITE  AND  BLUE  SERIES 

1.  How  the  War  Came  to  America.      (Out  of  print.) 

Contents:  Developments  of  our  policy  reviewed  and  explained  from  Au- 
gust, 1914,  to  April,  1917.  Appendix:  the  President's  address  to  the  Senate, 
January  22,  1917;  his  War  Message  to  Congress,  April  2,  1917;  his  F'lag  Day 
address  at  Waslilngton ,  June  14,  1917.  32  pages.  (Translations  into  Ger- 
man. Polish,  Bohemian,  Italian,  Spanish,  Swedish,  Portuguese,  Croatian  and 
■Yiddish.     48  pages.) 

2.  National  Service  Handbook.    (Price  15  cents.) 

Contents:  Description  of  civic  and  military  organizations  directly  or  indirectly 
connected  with  war  work.  Maps,  Army  and  Navy  insignia,  diagrams.  246 
pages. 

3.  The  Battle  Line  of  Democracy.    (Price  15  cents.) 

Contents:  The  best  collection  of  patriotic  prose  and  poetry.  Authors  and 
statesmen  of  America  and  all  the  countries  now  associated  with  us  in  the  war 
here  e-xpress  the  highest  aspirations  of  their  people.     134  pages. 

4.  President's  Flag  Day  Address,  with  Evidence  o(  Germany's  Plans. 

Contents:  The  President's  speech  explained  by  carefully  selected  notes  giving 
the  proofs  of  German  purposes  and  intrigues.     32  pages. 

5.  Conquest  and  Kultur.     Edited  by  Wallace  Notestein  and  Elmer  E.  Stoll. 

Contents:  Quotations  from  German  writers  revealing  the  plans  and  puqjoses 
of  pan-Germany,  one  chapter  being  devoted  entirely  to  the  German  attitude 
toward  America.      IGO  pages. 

6.  German  War  Practices:     Part  I — Treatment  of  Civilians. 

Contents:  Methods  of  the  German  military  machine  in  Belgium  and  Northern 
France;  facts  stated  on  the  basis  of  American  and  German  evidence  only.  This 
booklet  shows  how  the  German  Government  taught  the  soldiers  the  "art"  of  ter- 
rorism, often  forced  them  to  commit  crimes  against  civilization,  and  punished 
those  who  betrayed  symptoms  of  mercy.     91  pages. 

7.  War  Cyclopedia.     A  Handbook  for  Ready  Reference  on  the  Great  War.     (Price 

15  cents.) 

Contents:  Over  1,000  articles,  covering  all  phases  of  the  war,  with  special 
reference  to  America's  policy,  interests,  and  activities.  Suitable  for  speakers, 
editors,  and  all  persons  seeking  information  on  the  War.  The  best  single  vol- 
iime  on  the  War.     321  pages. 

8.  German  Treatment  of  Conquered  Territory:     Part  11  of  "German  War  Practices." 

Contents:  Deals  with  the  systematic  exploitation  of  occupied  territory  by  the 
Germans  under  tlie  Rathenau  Plan,  the  burning  of  Louvain,  and  their  wanton 
destruction  in  the  evacuated  districts  of  Northern  France.  An  appalling  record 
of  calculated  brutality.     61  pages. 

9.  War,  Labor,  and  Peace:     Some  Recent  Addresses  and  Writings  of  the  President. 

Contents:  The  American  reply  to  the  Pope  (August  27,  1917);  Address  to  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  (November  12,  1917);  Annual  Message  to  Con- 
gress (December  4,  1917);  Program  of  the  world's  peace  (Januarys.  1918);  Reply 
to  Chancellor  von  Hertling  and  Count  Czemin  (February  11 ,  1918).     44  pages. 

10.    German  Plots  and  Intrigues  in  the  United  States  During  the  Period  of  Our  Neu- 
trality. By  Earl  E.  Sperry  (University  of  Syracuse)  and  Willis  M.West 
(University  of  Minnesota). 

Contents:  An  account  from  offlc'al  records,  including  those  of  Federal  courts, 
of  plots  and  conspirac  es  directed  by  the  German  Government,  with  a  view  to 
caus'ng  strikes  and  blowing  up  mimit  on  plants  and  siilps,  promoting  attacks 
on  Canada  and  inciting  rebellion  in  Ireland  and  India,  and  otherwise  advancing 
the  German  cause  in  utter  disregard  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States.    64  pages. 

II.     WAR  INFORMATION  SERIES 

101.    The  War  Message  and  the  Facts  Behind  It. 

Contents:  Trie  President's  Message  with  notes  explaining  in  further  detail 
the  events  to  wliicli  he  refers.  A  careful  reading  of  tliis  l)rief  pamphlet  is  earn- 
estly recommended.     32  pages. 

14 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  IS 

102.  The  Nation  in  Arms. 

Contents:  Two  addresses  by  Secretaries  Franklin  K.  Lane  and  Newton  D. 
Baker,  siiowing  why  we  are  at  war.  Tliese  are  two  of  the  most  forceful  and 
widely  quoted  speeches  the  war  has  produced.     16  pages. 

103.  The  Government  of  Germany.  By  Charles  D.  Hazen  (Columbia  University). 

(Out  of  print.) 

104.  The  Great  War:    From  Spectator  to  Participant.     By  Andrew  C.  McLaughlin 

(University  of  Chicago).     (Out  of  print.) 

105.  A  War  of  Self-Defense.      By  Secretary  Lansing  and  Assistant  Secretary 

Post.     (Out  of  print.) 

106.  American  Loyalty.      By  American  Citizens  of  German  Descent.       (Out  of 

print . ) 

107.  Amerikanische  Buergertreue.     A  German  Translation  of  No.  106.     (Out  of 

print.) 

108.  American  Interest  in  Popular  Government  Abroad.      By  E.  B.  Greene  (Univer- 

sity of  Illinois).     (Out  of  print.) 

109.  Home  Reading  Course  for  Citizen  Soldiers.      Prepared  by  the  War  Depart- 

ment.    (Out  of  print.) 

110.  First  Session  of  the  War  Congress.     (Out  of  print.) 

111.  The  German  War  Code.    By  G.  W.  Scott  (Columbia  University)  and  J.  W. 

Garner  (University  of  Illinois) . 

Contents:  A  comparison  of  the  official  German  War  Manual  ( Kriegsbrauch  im 
Landkriec/e)  with  the  official  War, Manuals  of  the  United  States,  Great  Britain 
and  France;  a  revelation  of  the  war  philosophy  of  the  German  Government, 
with  its  defense  of  f rightfulness.     16  pages. 

112.  American  and  Allied  Ideals.   By  Stuart  P.  Sherman  (University  of  Illinois). 

Contents:  Addressed  to  those  who  are  "neither  hot  nor  cold"  in  the  war.  it 
presents  in  a  most  convincing  way  the  reasons  why  all  who  believe  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  freedom,  right,  and  justice,  which  are  the  ideals  of  America  and  of  the 
Allies,  should  aid  their  cause.     24  pages. 

113.  German  Militarism  and  Its  German  Critics.     By  Charles  Altschul. 

Contents:  A  careful  study  of  German  Militarism  before  the  War,  especially 
as  revealed  in  the  Rosa  Luxemburg  Trial  and  the  Zabern  Incident.  The  evi- 
dence is  drawn  almost  entirely  from  newspapers  published  in  Germany;  it 
reveals  the  brutality  which  prevailed  in  the  German  army  in  time  of  peace,  and 
helps  to  explain  the  crimes  and  atrocities  committed  by  Germany  in  the  present 
war.     40  pages.      (A  German  edition  is  in  press.) 

114.  The  War  for  Peace.     By  Arthur  D.  Call,  Secretary  of  the  American  Peace 

Society. 

Conten  ts:  A  compilation  of  the  official  statements  and  other  utterances  of  the 
leading  Peace  organizations  and  leaders,  showing  how  the  present  war  is  viewed 
liy  American  friends  of  Peace.     42  pages. 

115.  Why  America  Fights  Germany.  By  John  S.  P.  Tatlock  (Stanford  University) . 

Contents:  A  brief  statement  of  why  the  United  States  entered  the  war;  con- 
crete yet  comprehensive.  Deals  with  the  offenses  of  Germany  against  America 
and  against  the  world.  States  the  case  tersely  and  forcibly  for  everybody.  13 
pages. 

116.  The  Study  of  the  Great  War.     By  Samuel  B.  Harding  (Indiana  University). 

Contents:  A  topical  outline,  with  extensive  extracts  from  ilie  sources  and 
reading  references;  intended  for  college  and  high  school  classes,  clubs,  and 
others.     96  pages. 

117.  The  Activities  of  the  Committee  on  Public  Information.     (Out  of  print.) 

Contents:     A  report  made  to  the  President,  .January  7,  1918.     20  pages 

118.  Regimental  History  of  the  United  States  Regular  Army.      Prepared  by  the 

Adjutant-General's  Office.     (Out  of  print.) 

Contents:  A  chronological  statement  of  the  organization  and  ser\-ice  stations 
of  the  regiments  composirig  the  United  States  Regular  Army;  prepared  as  of 
July  1,  1918.    48  pages. 


16  PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  COMMITTEE 

III.     LOYALTY  LEAFLETS 

A  series  of  leaflets  of  ordinary  envelope  size.  Designed  especially  for  the 
busy  man  or  woman  who  wants  the  important  facts  of  the  war  and  our  par- 
ticipation in  it  put  simply,  briefly,  and  forcibly. 

20L  Friendly  Words  to  the  Foreign  Born.  By  Hon.  Joseph  BufRngton,  Senior 
United  States  Circuit  Judge  of  the  Third  Circuit.  (Translations 
into  the  Principal  foreign  languages  are  in  preparation.) 

202.  The  Prussian  System.    By  F.  C.  Walcott,  of  the  U.  S.  Food  Administration. 

203.  Labor  and  the  War.     President  Wilson's  Address  to  the  American  Fed- 

eration of  Labor  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  12,  1917. 

204.  A  War  Message  to  the  Farmer.     By  President  Wilson,  Jan.  31,  1918. 

205.  Plain  Issues  of  the  War.     By  Elihu  Root,  Ex-Secretary  of  State. 

206.  Ways  to  Serve  the  Nation.  A  Proclamation  by  the  President,  April  16,  1917. 

207.  What  Really  Matters.    By  a  well-known  newspaper  writer. 

(Other  issues  are  in  preparation.) 

IV.     OFFICIAL  BULLETIN.     Published  Daily 

Accurate  daily  statements  of  what  all  agencies  of  Government  are  doing  in 
war  times.  Sent  free  to  newspapers  and  postmasters  (to  be  put  on  bulletin 
boards);  subscription  price  to  others  $5  per  year.  * 


Address: 

COMMITTEE   ON  PUBLIC   INFORMATION 

8  Jackson  Place,  Washington,  D.  C» 

Any  two  of  the  War  Publications  of  the  Committee  sent  free  of  charge  on  request, 
excepting  Nos.  2,3,  and  7 ,  as  noted,  and  excepting  those  out  of  print.  The 
coupon  below  is  for  convenience  in  ordering. 


Fill  in  and  mail,  under  first-class  postage  (3c)  to:  C.P.I.    No.  15. 

Division  of  Distribution, 

Committee  on  Public  Information,  

8  Jackson  Place,  Washington,  D.  C.  Date 

Please  send  me,  free  of  any  charge,  the  following  booklets,  to  the 
address  given  below. 


My  name  is 

Street  Address 
City 


